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Harvard rescinds offer to professor who supports ‘Palestinian liberation’

Initial offer made ‘prematurely,’ school says

Harvard University withdrew a fellowship to a Columbia University professor, saying the school made the offer “prematurely.”

However, Professor A. Kayum Ahmed alleges he lost the offer because of his views on Israel and Palestine.

The Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights rescinded the offer last week.

“According to [Harvard Kennedy School] spokesperson Daniel B. Harsha, Ahmed’s offer — for an unpaid, non-resident position at the Carr-Ryan Center — was extended ‘prematurely without going through Harvard Kennedy School’s full review and vetting process,’” The Harvard Crimson reported. “Once the dean’s office completed the review process, HKS chose to reverse course and withdraw the fellowship offer, Harsha said.”

Ahmed also works for Human Rights Watch, which has been critical of Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas.

He wrote on LinkedIn:

Despite initial acceptance, Harvard University Kennedy School reversed its decision after what I understand to be pressure from pro-Israeli groups—because of my vocal and principled support for Palestinian liberation. The administration has cited “a process error” in its explanation. But we know that process is often weaponized to protect power and silence dissent.

So let’s be honest: the real error—according to those pulling the strings—was that I refused to remain silent in the face of genocide.

The professor also said there is a “growing crackdown on anyone who dares to condemn Israeli apartheid, U.S. complicity, and the daily violence inflicted on Palestinians.”

“It’s about Canary Mission watchlists, administrative gaslighting, and elite institutions bowing to political pressure,” Ahmed alleged.

He said his “hope for Palestinian liberation remains strong.”

“They may blacklist me, disinvite me, try to erase me. But I am not alone. The struggle continues—and so do I,” he concluded.

The Columbia professor has previously dismissed criticism of his commentary by accusing his critics of white privilege.

As The Crimson reported:

In lecture recordings obtained by the Wall Street Journal and described in a March 2024 article, Ahmed identified Israel as a settler-colonial state and used the experiences of displaced Palestinians as an example of how colonialism harms the health of indigenous populations.

The article included accusations from some students that Ahmed’s course was “indoctrination.” Ahmed responded, in a statement to the Journal, by deriding them as “a handful of privileged, white students” unused to examining how they benefit from white supremacy and capitalism.

Shortly after the article’s publication, Ahmed was removed from the teaching team for Columbia’s Core Curriculum, and his health and human rights course was canceled. His contract at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health was not renewed past the end of 2024.

Harvard Kennedy School, which houses the Carr Center, previously faced criticism for withdrawing an offer to Kenneth Roth, the former director of Human Rights Watch.

HKS subsequently made another offer to Roth, but he already had taken a position at the University of Pennsylvania, as The Fix reported in 2023.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Columbia University Professor A. Kayum Ahmed; A. Kayum Ahmed/LinkedIn

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Associate Editor
Matt has previously worked at Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action and Turning Point USA. While in college, he wrote for The College Fix as well as his college newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix. He previously interned for government watchdog group Open the Books. He holds a B.A. from Loyola University-Chicago and an M.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He lives in northwest Indiana with his family.